1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lever-type connector assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
A lever-type connector assembly has first and second connectors that can be connected together. The first connector has a housing and a lever is mounted on the housing. The lever typically is U-shaped and has two cam plates connected by an operable portion. Each cam plate is mounted rotatably on a supporting shaft provided at the left and right side surfaces of the housing. Thus, the lever is located right outside the left and right sides of the housing. Each cam plate also is formed with a cam groove. Cam pins project from the second connector and engage the cam grooves of the lever. The lever can be rotated in this state and the two connectors are pulled toward each other and connected by the cam action of the cam grooves and the cam pins.
The lever of the above-described connector assembly must be held at an initial stage where the cam grooves of the lever are in a position for receiving the cam pins. To this end, a lever-type connector assembly disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,225 is constructed such that each cam plate has a projection engageable with a housing. The lever is held at an initial position by engaging the projections with the housing. The projections and the housing are engaged with and disengaged from each other by resiliently deforming the cam plates along the thickness direction of the cam plates.
The connector assembly described above occasionally must be made smaller in a direction of the rotational axis of the lever, which is the thickness direction of the cam plates. However, the conventional connector assembly needs to ensure a space for permitting the resilient deformation of the cam plates in the thickness direction of the cam plate to hold the lever at the initial position. This hinders the miniaturization of the connector assembly.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problem and an object thereof is to provide a lever-type connector assembly which can be made smaller in the thickness direction of a cam plate portion.
The invention relates to a lever-type connector assembly with first and second connectors that are connectable with each other. A lever is rotatably mounted in a housing of the first connector and has at least one cam plate. A cam means is provided at the second connector and is engageable with a mating cam means of the cam plate. The cam means engages the mating cam means while the lever is at an initial position. The lever then is rotated and the two connectors are pulled toward each other for connection by the cam action of the mating cam means and the cam means. The cam plate comprises at least one resilient lock that is engageable with the housing to temporarily hold or lock the lever at the initial position. The resilient lock is deformable at an angle, and preferably substantially a right angle, to the rotation axis of the lever. Accordingly, a space needed for permitting the resilient deformation of the resilient lock is reduced and no space is needed for permitting resilient deformation of the cam plate in the thickness direction, as in the prior art. As a result, the connector assembly can be made smaller.
The cam means preferably comprises a cam pin at the second connector and the mating cam means preferably comprises a cam groove formed in the cam plate for engaging the cam pin.
The resilient lock preferably is resiliently deformable substantially along a plane surface of the cam plate. Accordingly, there is no need to provide space for resilient deformation of the cam plate in the thickness direction, and the connector assembly can be made smaller.
The cam plate preferably is formed with a substantially round bearing hole. A mount groove extends from the bearing hole to an outer edge of the cam plate and is narrower than the inner diameter of the bearing hole. The housing preferably has a supporting shaft with a major outer dimension for closely fitting into the bearing hole and a minor outer dimension sufficiently small for the supporting shaft to pass through the mount groove. Accordingly, the supporting shaft can be fit into the mount groove so that the widthwise direction of the mount groove conforms to the minor dimension of the supporting shaft. The lever is rotated about the supporting shaft and locked after the supporting shaft passes through the mount groove and engages in the bearing hole. In this way, the lever can be mounted easily.
The second connector preferably has at least one unlocking rib disposed for contacting the resilient lock at an initial connection stage, thereby canceling a locked state of the lever with the housing. Accordingly, the lever can be rotated from the initial position, and the two connectors can be connected smoothly with each other.
The second connector preferably has a substantially rectangular receptacle for receiving the first connector, and the unlocking rib also is disposed for preventing an upside-down or improper insertion of the first connector into the receptacle. Accordingly, the construction is simpler than a connector with a separate means for preventing upside down insertion.
The rotation of the lever preferably is guided by rotation guiding means on the housing and/or the lever.
An accommodating recess preferably is defined between an outer wall and an intermediate wall of the housing for accommodating the lever. The cam plate is held between the outer wall and the intermediate wall while defining a small clearance therebetween.
The lever-type connector assembly may further comprise a connection completing resilient locking piece for locking the lever at a connection completing position. The connection completing resilient locking piece may be resiliently deformable in a direction different than the resilient lock, and preferably in a direction of the rotational axis of the lever.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments and accompanying drawings. It should be understood that even though embodiments are separately described, single features thereof may be combined to additional embodiments.